Comparison Between Massage and Music Therapies to Relieve the Severity of Labor Pain

Journal

Women's Health

Year

2010

Abstract

BACKGROUND: During labor, women experience a high level of intense, stressful and steady pain that may negatively affect both mothers and neonates. Painkillers have previously been used for childbearing women, but nowadays, owing to some well-known limitations and serious side effects, nonpharmacologic methods such as massage and music therapies are being broadly recommended. The present clinical trial was conducted to compare the effects of massage and music therapies on the severity of labor pain in the Ilam province of western Iran. MATERIALS & METHODS: Overall, 101 primigravidae who were hospitalized for vaginal delivery were recruited and randomly stratified into two groups of either massage (n = 51) or music (n = 50) therapies. Pain was measured using the visual analog scale and the two groups were compared in terms of pain severity before and after the interventions. RESULTS: Mothers in the massage therapy group had a lower level of pain compared with those in the music therapy group (p = 0.009). A significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of pain severity after intervention (p = 0.01). Agonizing, or most severe, labor pain was significantly relieved after massage therapy (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Massage therapy was an effective method for reducing and relieving labor pain compared with music therapy and can be clinically recommended as an alternative, safe and affordable method of pain relief where using either pharmacological or nonpharmacological methods are optional.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Childbirth; Hospital Setting; Hospitalized Patients; Labor Pain; Music Listening; Music Medicine; Pain; Pain Management and Control; Pain Score or Rating; Pain Severity; Pregnancy; Recorded Music Listening; Self-Report Measures; Suffering; Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

Indexed Terms

Iran; Labor Pain; Labor, Obstetric; Massage; Pain Measurement; Pain Threshold; Pregnancy; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires

Study Type

Randomized Controlled Trial; Quantitative Methods

PubMed ID

20426604

Document Type

Article

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